As many as 12,000 still without water after major incident declared in Surrey
Bottled water stations are set up across the affected regions.
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Your support makes all the difference.As many as 12,000 people remain without water after Storm Ciaran caused problems at a treatment plant in Surrey, a council leader has said.
Thames Water has apologised for the problems in areas including Guildford and Godalming, saying that the storm had created issues at the Shalford water treatment works.
But Waverley Borough Council leader Paul Follows criticised the firm for lack of communication.
People have been quite upset... we've had almost no communications from Thames Water right from the start
He told BBC Breakfast: āWater infrastructure in this country is clearly crumbling.
āI have certainly got questions for the county for not declaring a major incident much earlier, and I will certainly have questions for our MP about the state of water infrastructure in the local area because it is clearly failing.
āPeople have been quite upsetā¦ weāve had almost no communications from Thames Water right from the start, so just actually trying to get basic information about what the problem is, how theyāre resolving it and when it will be resolved, that has actually been the challenge.ā
Surrey County Council (SCC) declared a major incident on Sunday.
It said staff were dealing with incidents involving reports of no water or low pressure while Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said on Sunday that Thames Water had told him that at least 13,500 homes had been affected on Sunday afternoon.
David Bird, retail director for Thames Water, told BBC Radio 4ās Today programme on Monday: āWe absolutely accept that the quality of service that has been provided to our customers has not been at the level they would want, but obviously in this specific incident in Guildford it has been as a result of one of the biggest storms weāve had in a decade.
āMy focus today is making sure we are supporting all of our customers.ā
Mr Bird said the water network around Guildford posed a particular challenge as it was āin effect an islandā, and that Thames Water had given out nearly half a million litres of bottled water to those affected.
He added the company was seeing improvements in the situation and hoped to get customers back on supply āin the very near futureā.
Mr Hunt, who is MP for South West Surrey which includes Godalming and the surrounding villages among the affected areas, said he was āvery concernedā about the situation and tweeted that he would talk to a Thames Water executive.
After speaking to Alastair Cochran, Thames Waterās interim co-chief executive and chief financial officer, Mr Hunt posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, which said the firm was āresetting and reprogrammingā the control system.
The Chancellor later tweeted that the firm was ātankering water to ensure that they can support hospitals and bottled water stations remain openā.